Published: June 25, 2013 at 2:05 pm

In today’s market place, there are tons of facts and figures for Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) traders to track, but it’s useful to monitor a company’s short interest. Two indicators typically used are: (a) the fraction of a company’s shares that the shorts are presently short selling, in addition to (b) the change in short selling activity.

Increased shorting typically indicates what it implies: the Street has turned less optimistic about that particular stock. Short selling that’s too high, however, may have a bullish effect on share price, as short-ers can be forced to buy their positions.

Within Insider Monkey, it is no secret that we pay attention to hedge fund interest, but it is eqaully as beneficial to group this data with aggregate short data. A few, large players might indicate that they’re bearish on a particular company, but it is not an SEC requirement. Nevertheless, many retail players might wish to stay away from heavily shorted equities with high hedgie interest, while others might prefer short-squeeze plays. For investors searching for a market-beating piggybacking strategy, discover the details of our premium strategy.

Let’s take a glance at the key data surrounding Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM).

Analyzing the newest FINRA data, which is released two times each month, we can discover that Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) sports a short interest of 1.00% of float. This represents a slight decline from the prior two-week period. With a total float of 4.44B shares, this is a short ratio of 3.40.

Also, insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at activity in other stocks similar to Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM). These stocks are TOTAL S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TOT), BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP), Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.B), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), and PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR). This group of stocks are in the major integrated oil & gas industry and their market caps match XOM’s market cap.

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